Here Comes Santa (and more snow)

We went to Grandma Trish & Grandpa Tom's house on Christmas Eve so Ian could wake up Christmas morning to a delivery of presents from Santa.

When we left for their house at 1pm on Wednesday, it had been snowing all day and we'd picked up another 5 inches on top of what we had dug out from 3 times. By the time we were 5 miles from home, it was a slushy rain mix and it felt warm... a balmy 35 degrees.

Ian opened one of his Christmas Eve presents, two Christmas books, but we lost his second Christmas Eve gift (meant to be his Christmas morning jammies). We looked at every gift at least 5 times, and I realized we'd either left it at home or I forgot to label the tag. It meant Ian had to wear non-Christmas jammies to bed. Gasp.

We set out milk and cookies for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. Ian didn't completely get the point, but he did a good job of playing along.

We watched Bee Movie, then Mama Mia after Ian went to bed...and broke out the chocolate martinis, yum!

The next morning, Ian woke with a horrible rash on his cheek. He's had a cold, but this was a bad raised rash...worse than any eczema flair up he's ever had. We decided it must be the blanket in his crib there. It got worse as the day went on and eventually spread to his other cheek, so we quarantined all of his bedding and washed it all. He had a good day despite it, and we even got him to open a couple of presents. When he opened his stocking, and he found 3 Hot Wheels cars and some gummy snacks, then couldn't have cared less about anything else. Next year, Christmas budget for Ian: $2.50.

We did get him to actually tear paper on a couple of presents, but for the most part, it was me opening presents and showing him what he received. We took 2 breaks in the morning and then again at naptime. At the end of the day, Ian still had about 6 presents still unopened.

We had made an earlier decision to let Ian spend the night and although he had this mystery rash and a lingering cold, he wasn't running a fever, was in good spirits, and eating normally. So, we left him fast asleep, and headed home at about 10pm.

Little did we realize that it had been snowing non stop at our house since we left the day before. There was possibly another 10 inches on the ground and my car was buried yet again. Poor Polli couldn't even walk from the garage to the house, it was so deep.

Today, Shawn and I slept in... I got up at 9am and set up my new XBOX. He slept until 11. It was pretty awesome. We were worried about Ian's rash, but the phone didn't ring, so we knew he must be doing OK. I was fully prepared to call the doctor if it wasn't better when we picked him up.

I met Trish and Tom halfway for Ian later in the day, and thankfully, he looked much better. Within a few hours of being home, we have seen a gigantic difference.

We set up 3 of the 32 pieces of Ian's tunnel system in his room and between that and his "Rocket" from Little Einsteins, he was in heaven.

Once the snow is gone, we'll be able to break out his new tricycle, and he has about 20 new books to read. Ian will be a busy guy for a while!

Below are a few pictures of the holiday and some of our snow. I didn't take nearly as many as I should have, but Ian's rash was pretty bad and I didn't want to focus on that.

Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope Santa was good to you! Wishing you all a wonderful 2009!

Checking out an angel on Grandma's table

Wishing he could touch the ornaments...but after his last experience with them, they're off limits

Opening his Christmas Eve present... even if the jammies were missing in action

Setting out cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa and the reindeer. By next year, we'll have to be a bit more accurate about where we put the reindeer food, but he didn't ask questions this time.

Opening his stocking... you can see the start of his rash here.

Opening a present. This only happened a few times before it was just me opening his presents for him.

Checking out his new tunnel

I mixed civilized martinis for the teenagers...who promptly drank them with tuna fish sandwiches.

Ian's Aunt Shannon had a few "less civilized" martinis. I think they were worth it... She may or may not agree.

When we arrived home, it was apparent that we'd gotten a lot more snow.

I'm so glad Shawn had already carved us parking spots. Look how tall the snow is compared to me and the garage door. We've never had anything quite like this happen before.

This is one of the deeper spots of our yard... and this isn't a snow drift! I took this picture on Friday morning... We'll see how long it takes this to melt.